One of the most impressive things about Guinness is that for over 250 years the company has stuck to churning out one, unaltered, high-quality product -- dry stout with its signature creamy head -- resisting the urge to try new things, which is so often born out of competitive pressure. Guinness just keeps on keeping on, and it's that dependability and commitment to its namesake Arthur's great vision that has made it one of the most popular and recognizable brands on earth. That Guinness has been doing the same thing so well and for so long is partly what induced me to visit the brewery at St. James Gate in Dublin a few years back (where I shot the video below). I'm a sucker for tradition. And great beer.

Just think about it -- generations of brewers have spent two and half friggin' centuries dancing with the date that brung them, with very few exceptions. Guinness gives new meaning to the old axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So it's quite a big deal when they do introduce something different to market, as they did last month with Guinness Black Lager.

Firstly, don't let the dark color fool you -- Guinness Black Lager has more in common with an outstanding pilsner like Urquell than it does the award-winning Samuel Adams Double Bock. It's not a light beer, per se, but it drinks easy. Something a Guinness lover can turn to when stout slows you down. This brew is meant to be consumed ice-cold, incidentally. And while there is a hint of that traditional Guinness dark roast taste, the crisp citrus and sweet malt flavors are what dominate that palate.

For tradionalists like me, it's doubtless anything out of Ireland will ever top the timeless wonder that is original Guinness stout. But the Black Lager is a welcome newcomer to the family. A fine change-of-pace brew with impeccable lineage.

Guinness Black Lager has an ABV of 4.5%, with a suggested retail price of $8.49/6-pack.

Okay, so...

...one of the coolest things to happen while I was writing my forthcoming book, "Living Loaded: Tales of Sex, Salvation and the Pursuit of the Never-ending Happy Hour," is that I managed to cajole 16 of the best f&*%ing bartenders in the world to create original cocktails designed to pair with the tome, and to write a little sumthin-sumthin about their respective concoctions. One such libational luminary is Ben Reed, a legendary ranconteur and reprobate from London. Ben is one of the industry's best-known mixologists thanks to his high profile as the BBC's Shaker Maker and his colourful career mixing cocktails for the capitals trendsetters and style leaders. His career really took off in the late 1990s during an enormously successful three-year stint as bar manager of London's premier private members club, the Met bar (where he won cocktail bartender of the year in 1997). Ben also wrote a column Barfly for the Saturday Times magazine for two years and his first book Hollywood Cocktails featured in the Times and the Telegraph newspapers top ten purchases for Christmas 99. His own book Cool Cocktails published in 2000 sold out in both the UK and the US in just four months and has currently sold 500,000 copies worldwide. Three more books, The Cocktail Hour, The Martini, and The Margarita and other Tequila cocktails were released in 2002. In 2003 he wrote The Art of the Cocktail to great acclaim. 2005 saw the release of three more books; Sunshine Cocktails, Party cocktails and Hangover Cures and his latest book "The Bartender's Guide" has just been released by RPS.

Here's Ben's contribution to the book, followed by a fun video we shot a few years back:

“The Internal Upgrade” (aka the Roofie Martini)
(created by Ben Reed)
3 miniatures of any hooch you can charm off your trolley dolly, preferably gin
1 lemon slice
2 cans of European lager (room temp pref)
A cup filled with ice
A bag of pretzels
2mg of rohypnol (or any of the following: xanax, ambien, vicodin, codein, stillnox, or any scrip whose name ends in pam)  
1 stirrer
1 eye mask
1 large napkin

Pour all gin into cup of ice, leave to stand. If beer not warm enough, place between legs, under seat, in shoe, until warm. Stir gin. Open one beer and drink quickly. Stir gin. Use second can to crush up meds on in flight magazine and siphon into chilling gin. Stir gin. Eat bag of pretzels (cuz you ain’t gonna be awake for the meal). Drink second beer, quicker. Stir. Consume quickly. Suck lemon (your neighbor may appreciate this) Tie large napkin around neck (there’s a strong likelihood of drooling) Apply eye mask and shut down.

Disclaimers:
1) For the lowbrow nature of this cocktail I blame global terrorism and understocked drinks trolleys.
2) The warm beer thing isn’t a Brit thing. Warm beer drunk at pace perfectly replicates that bloated end of session feeling that your body needs to recognize before properly shutting down for the long haul.
3) Due to the transatlantic nature of this piece, certain meds mentioned above may not be locally available… or strictly legal.

“The beauty of drinking hard on a plane is that most of the side effects you’re trying to avoid when drinking on the ground (inability to stand, walk, speak or remember anything) are exactly what you’re looking to embrace in the air. If, like myself, you travel round the world, mostly at the expense of a client, and your enjoyment of the journey is often at the mercy of their goodwill (and your day rate), then trust me, you’re going to need this cocktail.   

The many air miles I’ve accrued are seldom spent in first class; if they were, the trip would go down like a tepid martini back home Chez Reedo. So I’ve learned that if, if, on the odd occasion one is told firmly (and often forcibly) to turn right rather than left upon entry to your assigned aircraft, something a little creative is often required to numb the senses and propel you instantly to the place that, were you in business or first class, you would be gently (and expensively) reaching somewhere over a large water mass. This is your escape route to aviation oblivion.”
-- Ben Reed is British and demented. And not necessarily in that order. A former bartender at the famed Met Bar, Reed is the author of the best-selling tome “Cool Cocktails.”